Many consider CES to be a largely esoteric event for the tech nerds and the business folk to talk flash on a stage about innovation. But for your average consumer, it largely passes by mostly unnoticed. However, this may have changed this year as the pandemic seems to have injected a bit of ‘humanity’ into […]
It seems Paperchase is on the brink of administration, and for some Velveteers that’s led to a wave of nostalgia – not least because there was one over the road from our Chiswick office that some of us regularly visited. On the one hand, we have people at Velvet who are old enough to have […]
So here’s the thing: Santa’s been surfing (the net) when it comes to presents for years now, but online grottos? Well, this year, yes. We’re into all things retail, and this piece in Bloomberg Business Week was the inspiration for the latest in Velvet’s Labs series. As Velvet’s youngest, Alex Easlea was the natural choice to […]
A virtual beauty session? How does that even work?? A few months ago, it would have been inconceivable to think about beauty consultations virtually. We’re SO over COVID now, but one of the great things about it has been the way all sectors, including beauty, have pivoted. So now, you can get concoct your own […]
Satanic Polish heavy metal. Not something our clients immediately think of when they say ‘innovation’, to be honest. Anyway. Behemoth, a rather blasphemous band from a country with rather strict blasphemy laws, held a ticketed livestream event earlier this year: In Absentia Dei. Documented in and around a consecrated church, it was less a gig, […]
So, you’re thinking of working in the creative sector. Good for you. If you’re like most people, that probably means you’re looking at working in an ad agency or the like. On the one hand, you might be a creative, bursting with wild and wacky ideas. On the other, perhaps you’re best off being a […]
Joaquin Phoenix’s BAFTAs acceptance speech went viral after he addressed systemic racism in film and TV. Using a high-profile platform to focus on inequality is nothing new, it’s almost expected in the age of ‘wokeness’. It was the buzzword of the 2010s and calls out everything from political ignorance to cultural appropriation. It’s opened the […]
Having recently graduated university after three brilliant (but intense) years, I approached graduate life with some trepidation – various options including tutoring, pointless Masters courses or masochistic junior jobs in the City left a lot to be desired. Fortunately, my time at Velvet has been an eye-opening, engaging taste of the working world in general, […]
When I logged into Netflix this week, Alfonso Cuarón’s latest, ‘Roma’, appeared in the ‘spotlight’ section. There was no trailer, no blurb, just a stark black and white image and a title. I’m a film buff and a big Cuarón fan to boot, so it went straight on my watchlist. However, given ‘Roma’ represents Netflix’s […]
It’s that time of the year again – alongside mince pies, turkey and copious booze, the re-examination of classic Christmas songs has become a seasonal media staple. Band Aid’s well-intentioned ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ just about gets away with lyrics that now scan as more than a little tone deaf – ‘Where nothing ever […]